48-Hour Special Training (Mid)

[Warning!]

[Severe fluctuations in the planar rift detected!]

[Target "Huyan Li" arriving early!]

[Arrival time: 24 hours!]

[Arrival location: Target locking in progress...]

Lin Mo's expression shifted.

Ning Rongrong saw it too, the color draining from her face.

But she bit her lip, finishing the sentence she had started earlier:

"We can use that pile of scrap as a trap. He's slow, so we can use the terrain to make sure he can't catch us."

Lin Mo looked at her.

Her eyes were bright, unnaturally so.

It was a brightness born of forcing herself to stay strong while suppressing her fear.

He nodded and said, "Alright."

Ning Rongrong looked at him and suddenly offered a small smile.

The smile was brief, but genuine.

Then she stood up and said:

"Then let's get some sleep early tonight. Tomorrow... we still have one day."

Lin Mo nodded.

Ning Rongrong walked toward the inner room, stopping at the doorway without looking back:

"Um... goodnight."

Lin Mo said, "Goodnight."

The door closed.

Lin Mo sat on the sofa, staring at that door, suddenly recalling her smile from a moment ago.

And the way she had held onto his sleeve all the way back.

He closed his eyes, silently counting down the time in his heart.

Twenty-four hours.

One more day.

Outside the window, the neon lights were still flickering.

The occasional sound of cars drifted in from the distance.

He slowly drifted off to sleep.

In his dream, he saw that giant covered in golden diamonds once again.

But this time, a small figure stood by his side.

A seven-colored radiance illuminated the entire ruin.

The next morning, before the sky had fully brightened, Lin Mo woke up.

He didn't wake up naturally. A sharp pain in his right eye dragged him out of his dream. Opening his eyes, a purple light screen was already flickering in mid-air:

[Time until target "Huyan Li" arrives: 21 hours and 37 minutes]

[Suggestion: Fully utilize the remaining time for targeted training]

Lin Mo stared at the text for a few seconds before sitting up.

Sleeping on the sofa had left his back aching, so he rubbed his neck and turned to look at the door of the inner room. The door was closed and there was no movement inside; Ning Rongrong was likely still asleep.

He stood up on tiptoe and went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face. His complexion in the mirror looked fine; the injuries Shi Nian had inflicted on him yesterday had mostly faded. The "accelerated recovery" the system mentioned must have been real.

Coming out of the bathroom, he walked into the kitchen and began to prepare breakfast.

Kneading dough, mincing filling, wrapping buns. This was what Ning Rongrong had said she wanted to eat last night. He had learned the craft from his grandmother when he was young, so his skills were decent enough. Once the buns were shaped and placed in the steamer, he beat two eggs and chopped some scallions, preparing to scramble them later.

As he was busy, a soft sound of footsteps came from behind.

Lin Mo turned around to see Ning Rongrong standing at the kitchen doorway, her hair disheveled and her eyes not yet fully open, looking like she hadn't fully woken up.

She was wearing an oversized T-shirt—one of Lin Mo's, which she must have dug out of the closet at some point. The sleeves were so long they covered her hands, and the hem hung almost to her knees. Her exposed calves were thin, and she stood barefoot on the floor.

"Smells so good..." She squinted, sniffing the air, then froze when she saw Lin Mo looking at her. She glanced down at her clothes, and her face turned red instantly.

"I... my clothes were sweaty yesterday, and they didn't dry after I washed them..." she explained, her voice growing quieter.

Lin Mo looked away and continued scrambling the eggs: "It'll be ready soon. Go wash your face."

Ning Rongrong gave a soft "mhm," turned around, and ran into the bathroom, closing the door with a thud.

When she came back out, her hair was already tied up, and water droplets still clung to her face. She walked to the kitchen doorway, looked at the steamer and wok on the stove, and asked in a low voice, "Buns?"

Lin Mo nodded and lifted the steamer lid, releasing a cloud of steaming heat. Plump, white buns were packed together, emitting the mixed aroma of flour and meat filling.

Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up.

Breakfast was set on the coffee table. Ning Rongrong ate very earnestly, taking a bite of a bun followed by a bite of egg, her cheeks bulging like a hamster. When she reached her third bun, she suddenly stopped and looked at Lin Mo.

"Why aren't you eating?"

Lin Mo was drinking soy milk; hearing this, he said, "Watching you eat is enough."

Ning Rongrong froze for a moment, and then her ears turned red again. She lowered her head and whispered, "You... you should eat too. There's so much, I can't finish it all."

Lin Mo smiled and picked up a bun.

After finishing breakfast, the two went out again.

This time, they didn't take a taxi. Lin Mo took Ning Rongrong on the subway. It was her first time in a subway station; standing on the escalator, watching the steps receding rapidly beneath her feet, she nervously grabbed onto Lin Mo's sleeve and wouldn't let go.

"What is this thing? It moves!"

"An escalator. Just stand still, don't move around."

Ning Rongrong gripped him tightly, only letting go when the escalator reached the end. Once they entered the subway, the carriage was quite crowded. She shrank close to Lin Mo, though her eyes couldn't help but dart everywhere. A girl sitting opposite them was playing with a phone, her fingers swiping across the screen; Ning Rongrong stared at it for a long time.

"What is that?"

"A phone. I showed you one yesterday."

"Why does hers light up?"

"Her phone is better."

Ning Rongrong looked thoughtful, then suddenly asked in a low voice, "Will you buy me one?"

Lin Mo turned to look at her.

She quickly added, "I was just asking! You don't have to!"

Lin Mo thought for a moment and said, "After I finish fighting Huyan Li, I'll buy you one."

Ning Rongrong was stunned for a moment, then the corners of her mouth curled up, though she tried hard to suppress it, pretending to be indifferent as she looked elsewhere.

Forty minutes later, the two stood once again at the entrance of the ruins.

In the daylight, the ruins didn't look quite as eerie. Sunlight shone on the rusted iron frames and dilapidated factory buildings, the weeds were lush and green, and the wind made them rustle. The pile of construction waste in the center of the site was still there, just as it had been yesterday.

But both of them knew that in twenty hours, this place would become a battlefield.

Lin Mo walked up to the pile of waste and examined it carefully. He circled it twice, then began moving the large chunks of concrete.

Ning Rongrong asked, "What are you doing?"

"Setting traps." Lin Mo didn't look back. "Huyan Li is fast, so we'll make him slower. We'll stack these large pieces into several piles so he has to take detours when he runs, and we can weave between these piles."

He moved a few pieces and pointed to the rusted steel bars. "These can be used to make tripwires. He's strong, so it won't trip him over, but it will distract him."

Ning Rongrong nodded and began to help.

She didn't have much strength and couldn't move the large pieces, so she picked up the smaller ones and tossed them aside, clearing out several paths. Whenever she saw a straight steel bar, she would pick it up and set it aside.

The two worked all morning. By the time the sun reached its zenith, the pile of waste had been transformed into a maze. Several piles of concrete blocks were scattered about with winding paths left between them, and tripwires made of steel bars were set on the ground, deliberately covered with piles of broken bricks for concealment.

Lin Mo stood on a high point to look it over, adjusted a few positions, then jumped down and clapped the dust off his hands.

"That should do it."

Ning Rongrong was so tired she sat on a piece of concrete, panting as she said, "Will this actually work?"